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The first industrial-grade programmable stir plate designed specifically for yeast starters.

Breed a Herculean army of yeast for brewing bigger beers than ever before. Powerful rare earth magnets churn through any size starter and never throw a stir bar. Five-speed control adapts to sizes from minute to mammoth, for starters in a 1L flask to a 5-gallon carboy.

Command a massive starter while you’re at work or over the weekend. Let it run indefinitely or program up to 48 hours of stir time. Schedule to settle out yeast just in time to come home and brew.

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Just upgraded my 3 "project kit" stirstarters to 3 of these Maelstrom's. I typically do 15 gallon batches of Pilsner - so 5 liter starters are normal for me. These stir plates remove the risk of the flask falling over. No longer do I have to worry about the stir bar being thrown or fighting to get it centered. On speed setting 2 it will easily vortex a full 5L starter. Setting 3 and above are a bit more than you need and get a bit louder than I want - gotta keep the Wife content while making yeast babies! Product literature states it is for a 1L, 2L or 5L flask. There is no reference to the device being engineered to withstand the weight of a 5 gallon glass carboy filled...

This thing kicks butt (instead of kicking the stir bar) with carboy sized starters. Easily centers the bar through the thick glass of carboy base. I also like the fact that the surface is pretty much waterproof (not for submersion) and spills / splashes /drooling are easily cleaned off.

After brewing approximately 20 high gravity beers this is my first batch that I made a starter. The Maelstrom stir plate was the perfect tool for the job. It made a huge difference, taking a good beer and making it a great beer. I highly recommend getting some Fast Pitch to go along with the Maelstrom, to make the easiest and best starter you will ever make.

There is hardly a way to keep the stirbars(1inch) churning with uneven vessel bottoms! I got a saved 1 gallon wine bottle to make some yeast babies, but often the stir bar got thrown. I tried a lot of 5 gallons glass carboys and some Big Mouth Bubblers to hold the stir, but this also is a major PITA! IF you want to work an up to 5 gallons starter/'agitated fermentation', you might have to use a flat bottom plastic bucket. It worked for me. But it is great to be able to experiment with a 5l flask, relatively easy to center the stir bar with it, it did not get thrown yet for me.If it is a 5 gallons experiment, the weight is not the problem for a stirred fermentation, but the bottom of your vessel will be!

I have owned this stir plate for probably 5 or so years. When I first got it it churned through 2L yeast starters like a champ.

Over the years it would get harder and harder to get the stir magnet to start turning. It wouldn't start turning the stir bar until I removed the flask from the plate and then set the flask back down as soon as the magnet started turning. Like it was losing torque.

Today I got fed up with it. The magnet wouldn't even spin with no flask on it. I even was giving it some nudged with a spare stir bar I have to try and get it going. No torque. Sometimes I could get it going but it would stay spinning with flask on it and stir bar in place in the middle.

So here is the fix! I took it apart and found that the the screw that mount the motor to the mount under the magnet were magnetic. Also, the screw that holds tightens the magnet on the motor shaft was also magnet. What was happening was the screw on the motor shaft was aligning and locking in with either screw on for the motor mount. I went to do it best and got some stainless replacement screws. I verified they were not magnetic before I left.

I got them installed and tested. It is working now. I also found that the smaller stir bars work best with the magnet. 50 mm stir bar still has trouble getting started but my 25mm stir bar takes right off.

So there you have it. I am not sure if the motor has brushes in it if it does there isn't a way to change them. I thought about replacing the motor, but it has no markings on it and it looks very unique with has the wires attach to it. I doubt I would be able to find a replacement motor without doing tons of research on the internet. Hopefully this fix last a long time.

This thing is the bomb! After reading a lot of bad reviews I had gotten a bad image of this stirrer. After deciding to take the chance I have to say that I could not be happier. My 5000 ml. Erlenmeyer flask fits with room to spare. The gradual speed change is a great feature, as well as the pause button. The timer also makes it nice for long starts. Way powerful as well. Worth it!

Bout a new stir plate, it arrived but didn't function as I had hoped. after speaking to CS they replaced the stir plate and I could not be happier. I will be purchasing another one soon. thanks for the prompt attention

Worked great for a 5L starter on setting 1. My only complaint is that the unit starts with such a powerful vortex on setting 1. Setting higher than 1 makes a 5L starter a cyclone. I have a smaller stir plate for smaller starters.

This is a smaller company that produces these, but the equipment has performed flawlessly since I purchased it. The magnets in the stir plate are super powerful and they have been able to support up to a 3" stir bar at full speed without the bar slipping or bouncing.

This thing is really good, however I gave it 4 stars cause it's a bit expensive, and contrary to the claim it will, and does, throw stir bars, which is a huge PITA. Having said that, I don't have a suggestion how to improve it (helpful, I know.....)._x000D__x000D_If they could make the magnet capture better, it'd easily be 5 stars._x000D__x000D_Once she's spinning however, it's ridiculously good!!!_x000D__x000D_-J.

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What is the RPM for each of the 5 speed settings on your Maelstrom Stir plate?

A shopper
on Jan 9, 2017

BEST ANSWER:While I haven't specifically tested this, I'm going to assume that the RPMs of each speed would vary based on the size of the stir bar you are using. I've used a .75" stir bar for 1 liter and at a 5, the speed was WAY too fast. On the other hand, I've used a 1.5" stir bar in a 3 liter starter and had to keep it at a 4 to maintain a slight dimple in the starter. I hope that helps but I don't have the specific RPMs of the actual magnets.

BEST ANSWER:While I haven't specifically tested this, I'm going to assume that the RPMs of each speed would vary based on the size of the stir bar you are using. I've used a .75" stir bar for 1 liter and at a 5, the speed was WAY too fast. On the other hand, I've used a 1.5" stir bar in a 3 liter starter and had to keep it at a 4 to maintain a slight dimple in the starter. I hope that helps but I don't have the specific RPMs of the actual magnets.

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